Less than 24 hours removed from a decisive Fiesta Bowl win over the Kansas State Wildcats, Oregon Ducks head coach Chip Kelly is reportedly “close” to a deal with the Browns. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported the news Friday evening:
BREAKING: Chip Kelly is close to a deal to become the #Browns coach, according to a source informed of his situation.—
Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 04, 2013
This is the second coach now who has rejected the Eagles, the first being Penn State head coach Bill O’Brien. While it is obvious that the Browns are offering Kelly a lot of money with a lot of managerial control, the Eagles have continually given themselves a bad name by having a head coach and General Manager who like to do things their own way. A 4-12 team needs to do a lot of rebuilding, and a lot of that rebuilding power should be in the hands of a new head coach.
Joe Banner clearly won the power struggle over Kelly with Jeffrey Lurie, but this is a good thing for two reasons: first, while Kelly was a very good option, Mike McCoy, Bruce Arians, and others might be a better fit for the job. Second, it means the Eagles aren’t rushing into any decisions and are making sure they get the right man for the job.
